Kelly Shu

obsidian12

Junior Member
Hey, this is my first post. I know this has been talked about before, but I was thinking about purchasing a kelly shu and wanted to know what kinda of sound I'm gunna get having this mounted in the kick drum? I like a very full/ big sound from my kick drum and |'m wondering if the mic being so close to the batter head will give me to much of that tight beater sound ? Also I'm only using this live .
 
Re: kelly shu

I use one and really like it. I don't place the mic very near the batter head at all. I mounted the Shu to the reso side lugs and use an L shaped cable end so I can place the back of the mic quite close to the reso head. It gives a very big, full sound.

You will have a great deal of flexibility for mic placement, so I wouldn't worry about that issue at all. Not everyone seems to like the sound of a drum miced from inside, but I have been satisfied and it is extremely convenient.
 

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Re: kelly shu

I'm a huge proponent of the Shu. I've been using the composite Shu for about 3 years now in my little recording studio. I can get any sound I want/need with the Shu and a Sennheiser e602. Let's meet keep a full head as well, which I really like. I get enough boom and can dial in the attack easily. It's a great investment for the small cost.
 
Re: kelly shu

The fact is, mic placement is what helps get a good kick sound, and the Kelly Shu doesn't really help with that.

What it does is to keep that placement absolutely consistent night after night. Given that just an inch difference in placement can make a huge difference in the resulting sound, consistency is crucial.

If you use a flat mic (Shure or Sennheiser) like I do, they have now introduced their Flatz series to accommodate them. I am thrilled that my kick 1) sounds the same every night and 2) the mic no longer slips down the side or between the pillow and head, which meant the kick would disappear. Also, the mic just lives in the kick, it doesn't have to be placed or removed each night.

Big fan of the Kelly Shu!!

Bermuda
 
Re: kelly shu

If you use a flat mic (Shure or Sennheiser) like I do, they have now introduced their Flatz series to accommodate them. I am thrilled that my kick 1) sounds the same every night and 2) the mic no longer slips down the side or between the pillow and head, which meant the kick would disappear. Also, the mic just lives in the kick, it doesn't have to be placed or removed each night.

Here's my Beta91a in a Kelly Shu rig in my Beatles rental kit:

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In this case it allows me to keep an unported reso head for authenticity sake. Until I get the nerve to cut a hole for the connector, I've just run a mini mic cable out of the badge port.
 
Re: kelly shu

This likely my next investment. I have been running a kickport and am not satisfied with the limited mic placement choices it created.
 
Hi!! Kelly's product is amazing!! I use it in every of my gig or record!!! And highly recomended!
 

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I have one, and also prefer a big booming kick sound...

If you just set it as far back from the batter head as you can and mount it low and then point the mic more towards the edge of the skin than the centre you get more 'boom!' than 'click'

Also, something to note is that you have to try and make sure the mic and/or shu isn't in the path between the heads where the beater hits and the sound bounces back and forth. If it is...it deadens the drum right out. Not great
 
Also, something to note is that you have to try and make sure the mic and/or shu isn't in the path between the heads where the beater hits and the sound bounces back and forth. If it is...it deadens the drum right out. Not great

Im not a big fan of the SHU b/c its larger than it needs to be, the overall profile is 'too' big, its blocking too much sound.

Their FLATZ model is an alternative, there's no reason you couldn't use it with a regular mic, it has a thinner profile, tho FLATZ is bigger than it needs to be also.
 

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I really like it. Cleans the stand mess off the stage, doesn't have to be removed for transport, so it's literally "plug and play"- which I love! As for "blocking" the sound, it can be installed either way, so it can be set horizontal like a FLATZ as well. Just takes a little tweaking and positioning to get it right. Thats how I'm gonna do mine when I replace the kick heads next week. But even now, I get a full, fat punchy kick sound as is. I have it set about 4" from the reso head, pointing at the batter at an angle so it's not straight at the beater. I'm getting a killer kick sound this way! The only adjustment I have to make is to tune the kick to the room a little bit and I'm good to go, and I'm using a cheap, Audio-Technica kick mic. Wouldn't change it for anything! Only thing I need to do now is to mount an XLR plugin to the shell.
 
Re: kelly shu

I use one and really like it. I don't place the mic very near the batter head at all. I mounted the Shu to the reso side lugs and use an L shaped cable end so I can place the back of the mic quite close to the reso head. It gives a very big, full sound.

You will have a great deal of flexibility for mic placement, so I wouldn't worry about that issue at all. Not everyone seems to like the sound of a drum miced from inside, but I have been satisfied and it is extremely convenient.

This is how I eventually want to rig my cable also, so it's not all rolled up inside the drum. I velcro it to one of the cables, but this idea is much cleaner and smarter. Did you just cut and solder the cable to the connector? Nice, clean look man
 
Re: kelly shu

This is how I eventually want to rig my cable also, so it's not all rolled up inside the drum. I velcro it to one of the cables, but this idea is much cleaner and smarter. Did you just cut and solder the cable to the connector? Nice, clean look man

Yes, I just cut and soldered the right length of cable. Piece of cake, and works great!
 
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